Poor Barry Allen (Grant Gustin). It just seems that no matter what he does, he just can’t get things to go his way. How many times will he have to save his mother and let her die before he realizes that some things in life are just meant to be? And, as an audience member, how many times can you watch it before you scream out enough is enough? Such a number probably doesn’t exist. That’s because every time the Flash tries to “fix” things, you’ll be right there behind him, and when it doesn’t work out, you’ll still be there to back him up. As the third season of The Flash starts up, fans finally find out what Barry has been up to since he went back in time and saved his mother. He knew the consequences going in and knew what could happen coming out, but Barry definitely didn’t see this happening.

When fans last saw Barry Allen, he had raced off into the past to save his mother, once more. This time, however, he made sure the results stuck. In tonight’s episode, entitled “Flashpoint,” it’s been three months since Barry stopped Reverse Flash (Matt Letscher) and all seems to be going well. He reintroduced himself to Iris (Candice Patton), there’s another Flash in town to take care of the bad guys, and he gets to see both his parents every day. At one point, things are going so well, that his parents even hint at the idea that maybe now is the time to move out of the house, but Barry isn’t budging.

Of course, everyone knew that the honeymoon wouldn’t last long as Barry begins to feel the effects of altering the timeline. The constant use of his powers causes him to start losing his memories of his former life at an accelerated pace. And unless he did something about it, Barry’s new life would eventually overtake his old one; memories of his past life would be gone forever. To prevent it, he quickly assembles the old team and tells them the truth of what he’s done. After facing the facts, he and the Reverse Flash go back in time to fix what he’s changed. Soon after, Barry realizes that not everything has gone back to how it was. While some of the pieces of his life are back in their rightful place, other have been misplaced. It seems that Barry’s altering of the timeline has done more damage than he could have ever imagined.

Flashpoint. Flashpoint. Flashpoint. That’s all anyone could talk about from the end of the second season all the way to tonight’s episode. So the question is, did tonight’s episode live up to the hype that was created? You could definitely make an argument for both sides. For those of you who are upset with this season’s premiere, you’re not wrong. The Flashpoint story line was a big deal in the comic books and it got even more attention when it was turned into an animated movie. So there’s no surprise that the expectations for this episode were very high. If you were looking to find something of equal value, then you’ll be saddened to know that you won’t find it here. This is different though. This is television. Compared to what can be accomplished in comic books and an animated film, there are a lot of restrictions in the TV format. With that being said, this was actually a great set up for the rest of the season.

A lot of speculation going into the third season was how long would the Flashpoint story arc could last? And it looks like the real meat of the story will last for a couple of episodes. But if the end of tonight’s episode was any indication, the ramifications could last the entire season and beyond. In addition, fans know how closely related the other DCU shows are on the CW. So its completely plausible that Flashpoint will effect Arrow, maybe Legends Of Tomorrow, and even Supergirl. To what degree remains to be seen, but there will definitely could be ripple effects.

From that point of view, Flashpoint was a great launching pad for season three. It was really nice to see Iris and Barry interact with each other in a way the audience hasn’t seen before. Also, how cool was it to finally see The Flash and Kid Flash together on screen? Hopefully, that won’t be the last time those two are seen together in that capacity. Something that needs to be pointed out is how great Reverse Flash was in this episode. A formula that a show like The Flash uses a lot is the “villain of the week.” Seeing Barry and the Reverse Flash should make you appreciate how great of a villain he really is. It’s a shame that the two haven’t been able to get a lot of screen time together. Before the show ends, the Flash and Reverse Flash need a whole season of back-and-forths similar to what he and Zoom had. Overall, this was a great start to season three of The Flash.

The Flashairs Tuesdays at 8:00 PM on The CW. Check out a preview of next week’s all new episode: